The Indian River County School District provides Exceptional Education Services for Pre-school age children in classroom settings. These classrooms accommodate fewer children per teacher ratio. Opportunities for inclusion with typical peers are provided as appropriate. Classroom teachers are certified and have additional staff to assist with the special needs of each child. Transportation is provided for all children who are placed in a full time classroom. Related services that may be included are: Occupational Therapy; Physical Therapy; Visual Therapy, and assistive technology.

Additionally children who only meet criteria for speech or language therapy can be served at satellite sites throughout the county. If the child is at a childcare center, transportation may be provided for the therapy sessions.

Children ages 3-5 benefit greatly from early intervention. These are precious years so don’t wait to ask for assistance.

Preschool Evaluation Team - (PET)

The Preschool Evaluation Team (PET) is an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program which is responsible for the screening, assessment and education services for preschool age children birth to five years old, with special needs and disabilities.

The PET is a collaborative partnership with Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resources System (FDLRS)

District Staff

Brooke Flood, School Readiness Coordinator

Anne Arce', Resource Specialist

Traci McGough, School Psychologist

Jennifer Oseroff, School Psychologist

Laurie Pedersen, Speech Pathologist

Mary-Therese VanHollenbeck, Special Instructor

FDLRS

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Procedures

Step 1 - REFERRAL

Parents can contact the PET office directly. In addition physicians, community agencies, preschools, childcare programs who suspect that a child may have a disability can advise the parent to contact the PET office.

The Parent or Guardian will be asked to complete a developmental history about the child, and to share any significant information.Some examples are: medicalconditions; birth history; language delay; speech intelligibility.

Step 2 - SCREENING

The PET team holds screenings weekly by appointment at the PET center. Screenings are completed in order to obtain a general sample of the child’s skills and to identify who may need a more comprehensive evaluation. Screening consist of functional hearing and vision evaluation.Botha brief pre-school and developmental skills assessment and a speech and language assessment. If the child passes all of the screening activities no further steps need to be taken at this time. If the child does not pass all of thescreenings the parent or guardian meets with the PET team after the screening.Results are discussed and the parent isadvised and given a copy of their procedural safeguards and written consent for the evaluation may be obtained.

Step 3 - EVALUATION

A comprehensive assessment is administered in order to determine if the child has a developmental delay or a disability which would need assistance from the Exceptional Student Education program. The following may be included in the assessment::

Developmental

Speech/Language

Psycho-educational

Audiological

Medical

Visual

Behavioral

Results of the evaluation are included in a report written by the team and the parent is asked to attend a meeting at the PET center.

Step 4 - Eligibility Determination

The eligibility meeting is where the results of the evaluation are shared with the parent and the parent is given a copy of the report. If the child did not meet criteria for Exceptional Education Services no further steps need to be taken at this time.

If the child met criteria for a program the parent and other members of the school district may be present. For example; teacher, occupational therapist, speech pathologist etc. Then after being informed about the services offered makes the determination for their child. If the parent gives written permission for placement in a program an Individual Education Plan is designed for the child.